Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Listen Well to the Sound of the Dharma (善聽聞法音)
Date: January.13. 2015
“When our mind is very peaceful, we will abide in True Suchness. With a prediction of perfect enlightenment, we will attain Buddhahood. With self-confidence, we can faithfully apply this teaching. When our mind is pure, it can reflect like a clear mirror.”
A mind that abides in True Suchness is the most peaceful. Sentient beings have, since Beginningless Time, developed unenlightened habitual tendencies. Thus, the Buddha compassionately started teaching at the beginning. He taught us all how to eliminate our habitual tendencies, one by one in order to return to perfect enlightenment, to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.
So, the Buddha spent over 40 years doing this, until the Vulture Peak Assembly, the Lotus Sutra Dharma-assembly. Then the Buddha began to continuously praise the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, for the sole purpose of inspiring us to form great aspirations and vows so He can bestow on us a prediction of attaining Buddhahood. He helped us believe that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. On this path to perfect enlightenment, everyone can attain Buddhahood. It is just that we are lost and do not know the way back. We do not know how to return. The Buddha is providing us with the path, so we must avoid going down side roads or taking the wrong fork. We should quickly return to the direct Bodhi-Path. So, He constantly calls to us, hoping that those who have lost their way will be able to quickly come back and walk on the correct path. We must walk this path ourselves; this is spiritual practice.
We must affirm and believe that we have a nature of True Suchness. Our nature of True Suchness can enable us to make the most of our potential. We do that by forming great aspirations and vows and by going among people to help them. We must not let this resolve be disturbed by others. Our minds must remain peaceful. A very peaceful mind indicates that we have returned to our nature of True Suchness. As we interact with people, we cannot allow them to affect our resolve, so we must have a sense of self-confidence and faithfully apply the teachings. If we have faith [in our Tathagata-nature], we can apply this in [our interactions] with people and thus not be influenced by them. Then we will be like a mirror, which reflects phenomena of all sorts but returns to a state of purity once they pass. So, we should all quickly polish the mirror of our mind so that it is clean. Then naturally, the phenomena before us will be reflected clearly.
Similarly, when our mind is peaceful and abides in our intrinsic nature of True Suchness, it will not be disturbed by sentient beings. This is most important in our spiritual practice.
Recently, I have been continually telling everyone to return to our intrinsic awakened nature. The Buddha is calling to us out of compassion. We should recognize that we are lost and that we need to quickly return.
So, in the previous passage, Sariputra says, “I was freed of all my deviant views and realized the Dharma of emptiness. Then I told myself I had reached the state of Nirvana but now I realize that it was not true Nirvana.”
This is saying that, after hearing the Dharma, [he realized] that he held deviant views, such as an attachment to and “bias toward emptiness.” He thought that he had attained realizations, that his mind had already been purified and that he would not be defiled by external conditions.He thought he had attained the fruits of spiritual cultivation, but had he really?In the past, this was what he had thought.He thought he had put an end to his transmigration.Only now did he realize that he had been mistaken.“It was not true Nirvana.”
Only through self-reflection and self-awareness do we have the hope of improving ourselves.Without self-reflection and self-awareness, we will never be able to improve.Everyone has habitual tendencies, and with these habitual tendencies we often disturb ourselves.It is not other people who disturb us; it is our own habitual tendencies of attachment that disturb us.
The next passage states, “The Buddha, among the assembly, has declared that I shall become a Buddha. Hearing the teachings of this Dharma, all my doubts and regrets were dispelled.”
In this passage, we understand the compassion of the Buddha.
Sentient beings’ capabilities varied greatly.The Buddha saw that everyone still had the tendency to form attachments, so He could not directly [guide us to] understand our minds and realize our true nature.
So, in the past, the Buddha had used a variety of skillful and provisional means to guide us.Now, here at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, He began to bestow predictions of Buddhahood.At this assembly, He wanted to verify this for all His disciples.
Although everyone still has residual habitual tendencies from the past, the Buddha bestowed predictions for them in the distant future.So the Buddha, among the assembly, “has declared that I shall become a Buddha”.The “I” refers to Sariputra, Sariputra heard the Buddha say this in front of everyone.All he needed to do was form great aspirations and make great vows.So, we must eliminate our deviant, biased views and not remain biased towards “emptiness”.
There is still “wondrous existence,” which is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.He taught us about the wondrous nature of True Suchness so that we can apply this to go among people without hindrances.This is the Middle Way.
We understand that every aspect of this world is illusory and impermanent, suffering, empty and without a self.We know these things, but we also have a nature of True Suchness, that is very useful.It allows us to go among people without our minds becoming polluted by their turbidities.This is “wondrous existence”.
This is what the Buddha pointed out at the beginning of the Lotus Sutra.Sariputra began to mentally prepare himself for attaining Buddhahood.
So, Sariputra said, “I heard the Buddha say among the assembly that I shall become a Buddha, that everyone can attain Buddhahood.”He “felt very fortunate” that he also had the hope of attaining Buddhahood.Although he had attained the fruit of the Small Vehicle, he had not believed that he would attain Budhdahood in the future.
After attaining realizations, he lingered in the Small Vehicle understanding of impermanence, suffering, emptiness and illusoriness.He continued to remain in that state.He began to lose faith that one day he too would attain Buddhahood.He began to lose that faith.This was Sariputra’s mentality at that time.
But then he said, “Hearing the teachings of this Dharma, all my doubts and regrets were dispelled.”This was after Sariputra had personally heard the Buddha teach this Dharma.Sariputra’s ears heard the sound of Buddha’s voice.Thus he took the teachings to heart.
And now, hearing the Buddha personally teach this Dharma, explaining that in the past He had given provisional teachings according to capabilities and was now revealing the true teachings,.I feel fortunate that I have attained it and all my doubts and regrets were dispelled.
“In the past, He gave provisional teachings according to capabilities and was now revealing the true teachings.”
He told everyone very clearly, “What I taught in the past was adapted to everyone’s various capabilities. You are at this stage because you still have all those attachments. So, I cannot guide you to understand your mind and realize your true nature”. We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, and this great principle was also included in the “provisional” teachings, which are skillful means. However, those with attachments cannot understand this. So, now the Buddha opened up the provisional to reveal the true and guide everyone to eliminate all their attachments. He taught us to look within ourselves and find our own path to True Suchness.
So, now he understood this; Sariputra finally understood that to seek out this road in our minds, we must first affirm and have faith in ourselves. With self-confidence and self-affirmation, we will feel very fortunate and happy, we will feel very fortunate and happy.
Once we know we are lost, we must look for a road that leads us back. Thus, “All my doubts and regrets were dispelled”. We should know that spiritual cultivation is about learning. What do we need to learn? We must learn to listen. How must we listen so that we can identify what is the True Dharma? As we learn how to listen, we must learn how to listen well.
In the sutras, we find that when someone requests the Dharma from the Buddha, He always says, “Listen well, listen well. I speak for your sake”. We must listen carefully, because the Buddha is about to explain something. Since he is going to explain, we must listen very earnestly. This is what is meant by “listen well”.
“As we engage in spiritual practice, we should be learning how to listen. We must listen well, even to sounds that are ugly, argumentative, noisy or strange. If we can be like Guanyin Bodhisttva and transform them all into purifying sounds, we can understand the good intentions behind rude and negative words. Thus, “listening well to teachings of the Dharma can immediately resolve our doubts.”
“Listening well” teaches us to listen to all the sounds we hear in the world. We may hear the wound of a person speaking, the sound of harsh or angry words, or the sound of an argument. In our surroundings, we may also hear the sound of machines whirring, the sound of chickens clucking, dogs barking, birds calling or insects chirping. There are so many sounds. How do we humans choose which sounds to listen to? At times we will hear others praise us. We are quite happy when we are praised, as if we are walking on clouds. This is very dangerous: why is that? We may become arrogant and proud, which adds to our afflictions and increases our ignorance.
Look at little Christopher [Yang]. He is so young, but he is truly wise, so when he hears the Dharma, he takes every word to heart and understands it. When others praise him, he reminds himself to be vigilant, to not become arrogant. “I am not the most outstanding. There is still much for me to learn. I cannot allow other people’s praise to make me feel self-satisfied”. As sense of self-satisfaction will be a hindrance to our progress on the Path.
So, we must remind ourselves to be vigilant. If we hear people say critical things about us, we may feel, “But I made such a great effort, the things they said really hurt me.” When this happens, our way forward on this road may be obstructed. We may hear people yell at us [and think], perhaps they are not only yelling at us to our face, but are [slandering] us behind our backs as well. Thinking these things, we may become [afflicted]. This even happened to spiritual practitioners in the Buddha’s lifetime.
When the Buddha spoke to Rahula, He made the remark very lightly. But when it spread through the Sangha and reached Sariputra, the comments felt very harsh. Thus they hindered Sariputra’s spiritual aspirations. Things like this happened even in the Sangha. As we learn the Buddha’s Way we must not allow anything we hear from other people to hinder us.
Whether we hear harsh or scolding words, or bothersome noise in our surroundings, we must always be vigilant. We must constantly practice. What are we practicing? The practice of Guanyin Bodhisattva. When we hear praise, we must be vigilant. When we hear harsh words, we must be grateful. “Waves do not arise where there is no wind”. Perhaps we really did fall short. The person who points it out to us is like a mirror that helps us see that there is a smudge on our face. [A mirror can also help us] see what is ahead.
For instance, when we are driving, there may be mirror at a [blind] intersection. We will pause for a moment to look into it .
If we can see a car coming, we will stop and wait for it. After the car passes, we will continue forward. When people talk about us, whether is to our face or behind our backs, even if they find fault in every little thing, we must see it as a chance for self-reflection. This is how we can be understanding. If we have not done anything wrong, We must be grateful. Perhaps the other party lacks an understanding [of the situation].We should think of a way to help them to understand more clearly. This is how we can be understanding.
By being understanding of ourselves and others, we can transform a negative situation into a good one. This comes from “being understanding”.
Next, we must be “accommodating.” This sounds of [slander], yelling, arguing and so on, are just some of the things that are in the world. So, we should be accommodating of them. We hope that others will understand us. If they really cannot understand us, then we must accommodate them.Because the enlightenment of the Buddha is universal and accommodates all things, His “mind encompasses the universe.” There is nothing that we are unable to accommodate.
Next is being “grateful.” There are all manner of shapes and sounds in the world. When we are understanding, we hear everything as teachings of the Dharma. So, being understanding means “listening well to the teachings of the Dharma.” If we can be understanding, the sounds of all things in the world impart to us the teachings of the Dharma, including the sounds of human beings.
So, being understanding is essential. This is the only way for our minds to be free of doubts. Thus, “All my doubts and regrets were dispelled”.
The previous passage of the sutra states, “Hearing the teachings of this Dharma, all my doubts and regrets were dispelled.” The teachings of the Dharma that Sariputra heard in the Buddha’s lifetime were the Buddha-Dharma. Actually, the Buddha wanted to teach us to listen to all the sounds in the world and use them to immediately hear, understand and eliminate our doubts.
In the Introductory Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, there is a passage that states, “Those who seek the. Three Vehicle teachings, should they have doubts or regrets, will have them resolved completely by the Buddha so that none remain.”
This passage is in the Introductory Chapter. It appears because in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha had already begun to the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha had already begun to help everyone eliminate their doubts and regrets. So, He had to explain to them how they could find their way back from being lost to return the correct spiritual path and discover their nature of True Suchness.
Dear Bodhisattvas, our daily living is indeed inseparable form hearing all kinds of sounds and seeing all kinds of appearances. The way things look and sound may bring us happiness or make us unhappy. Happiness can be an obstruction on our path; unhappiness can sever our roots of goodness. So when we listen to the Dharma, we must be understanding and listen well to the teachings of the Dharma. This is very important. Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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